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Ex-cop: Use retired police as armed substitutes

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- In the days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, a former Ohio police officer proposed a unique idea for schools: have retired cops work as armed substitute teachers.

Scott Miller, 45, a former Mason (Ohio) Police officer, was forced into disability retirement in 2010 after being hit twice by cars during a two-year stretch while on duty.

In January, Miller approached his former boss, Butler County (Ohio) Sheriff Richard Jones, with his idea. Soon after, Jones announced that his department fully backed the idea and urged public and private schools in the county to enact the program as allowed by state law.

School districts need more time

So far, none of the 10 public school boards in Butler County, nor any private schools, has voted to adopt the program allowing qualified and armed ex-officers to work as substitute teachers. Some district officials say discussions may be held in coming board meetings. Most school systems' governing boards say they need more time, since the announcement Jan. 17.

District officials also say they are reluctant to discuss any school security measures publicly for fear of jeopardizing student safety by pointing out what their schools currently lack.

"I knew schools would move slowly," said Miller from his home in Fairfield Township, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. "It's a different concept and will take some time for them to digest, but some school districts will eventually sign on."

Paul Otten, superintendent of the 9,900-student Fairfield City School District, said his board has not had an opportunity to address the issue. He says the board is expected to include discussion about the idea at its meeting next week.

Randy Oppenheimer, spokesman for Lakota Local School District, Southwest Ohio's second-largest, said "the board has not taken any action on the sheriff's plan, (and) I'm not aware of any scheduled vote." Lakota, he said, is "fairly reluctant to go into a lot of details about the meeting topics" pertaining to security.

Sheriff Jones is neither surprised nor discouraged. "It's a great idea, but I want to take it slow and see how it goes.

"I have had calls from school boards and emails from (school officials) in other states about it, and it has been nothing but positive reaction," Jones said.

Subbing to get better grasp of job

A Mason motorcycle patrolman, Miller was struck by a car in 2008. That accident left him with a broken, surgically repaired back. He returned to duty in 2010 only to be hit again by a car, ending his career and leaving him with metal "pins, screws and hooks at the bottom of my spine" and extensive nerve damage in one leg.

Although he does rehab work daily, he still misses police work. Seeing a TV news image of a military veteran standing guard -- without a firearm -- in front of a school in the days after the shooting in Newtown, Conn., prompted his idea.

"Being a substitute is revenue-neutral for school districts, and they can have a certified and armed police officer in their schools," Miller said.

In recent weeks, he has filled in as a substitute -- unarmed -- for a few days at schools in two districts to familiarize himself with the job, which pays about $75 per day. He is eager to pull double duty as an armed substitute so he can also add to a school's security.

"We have to do something," Miller said. "Kids shouldn't have to worry about not being safe at school, and parents shouldn't have to worry about maybe never seeing their kid again after sending them off to school."